memoir

One afternoon, actor Zachary Levi couldn't bring himself to open his front door. Where are you going, Zac? Where are you taking us? What are we doing here? But he wasn't worried about what other people might do to him, he was worried about what he might do to himself. And that realization terrified him. Here, Zac shares his story of grappling with a lifetime of sometimes crippling anxiety and depression, including a one-month stint in a trauma therapy center. With honesty and humor, he relates his healing journey to mental health, and shares valuable lessons and insights he gained along the way. Through sharing his experiences, Zac hopes his listeners will come to believe what he had to discover for himself: that they can choose a lifestyle of wellness, receive love from others, and learn to love themselves.

Tim Kennedy has a problem; he only feels alive right before he?s about to die. Kennedy, a Green Beret, decorated Army sniper, and UFC headliner, has tackled a bull with his bare hands, jumped out of airplanes, dove to the depths of the ocean, and traveled the world hunting poachers, human traffickers, and the Taliban. But he?s also the same man who got kicked out of the police department, fire department, and as an EMT, before getting two women pregnant four days apart, and finally, been beaten up by his Special Forces colleagues for, quite simply, ?being a selfish a-hole.? In Scars and Stripes, Kennedy describes how these failures shaped him into the successful businessman and devoted husband and father he is today. Through unbelievably vivid, wild anecdotes Kennedy reveals all the dumb, violent, embarrassing, and undeniably heroic things he?s done in his life, including multiple combat missions in Afghanistan, building a school in Texas for elementary kids, and creating two multimillion-dollar businesses. You will learn that failure isn?t the end?rather it?s the first step towards unearthing the best version of yourself and finding success, no matter how overwhelming the setbacks may feel.

Detailing his experiences as a young, queer Mexican American in 1970s Los Angeles, the legendary guitarist, who was part of three groundbreaking and influential groups--Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, the Cramps and The Gun Club--presents this memoir of personal transformation, addiction and recovery, friendship, and belonging.

Kyle Petty won his very first stock-car race, the Daytona ARCA 200, in 1979 when he was eighteen. Hailed as a third-generation professional NASCAR racer, he became an instant celebrity in circles he had been around all his young life. Despite being the grandson and son of racing champions Lee Petty and Richard Petty, Kyle didn?t inherit innate talent. Working in his family?s North Carolina race shop from an early age, he learned all about car mechanics and maintenance long before he got behind the wheel. And although Kyle continued the family business, driving ?Petty blue? colored cars emblazoned with his grandfather?s #42?a number once used by Marty Robbins?his career took a different route than his forebears?. In Swerve or Die: Life at My Speed in the First Family of NASCAR Racing, Kyle chronicles his life on and off the racetrack, presenting his insider?s perspective of growing up throughout the sport?s popular rise in American culture. In between driving and running Petty Enterprises for thirty years, Kyle took some detours into country music, voiced Cal Weathers in Pixar?s Cars 3, and started his annual motorcycle Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America. And when his nineteen-year-old son Adam, a fourth-generation racing Petty, tragically lost his life on the track, Kyle founded Victory Junction, a camp for children with chronic and serious medical conditions in Adam?s name?with help from Academy Award-winning actor and motorsports enthusiast Paul Newman. Filled with NASCAR history, stories of his family?s careers, and anecdotes about some of stock-car racing?s most famous drivers, Kyle?s memoir also tackles the sport?s evolution, discussing how welcoming diverse racers, improving car and track safety features, and integrating green technology will benefit NASCAR?s competitors and fans in the future.

Brian Johnson was born to a steelworker and WWII veteran father and an Italian mother, growing up in New Castle Upon Tyne, England, a working-class town. He was musically inclined and sang with the church choir. By the early '70s he performed with the glam rock band Geordie, and they had a couple hits, but it was tough going. So tough that by 1976, they disbanded and Brian turned to a blue-collar life. Then 1980 changed everything. Bon Scott, the lead singer and lyricist of the Australian rock band AC/DC died at 33. The band auditioned singers, among them Johnson, whom Scott himself had seen perform and raved about. Within days, Johnson was in a studio with the band, working with founding members Angus and Malcolm Young, Cliff Williams, and Phil Rudd, along with producer Mutt Lange. When the album, Back in Black, was released in July--a mere three months after Johnson had joined the band--it exploded, going on to sell 50 million copies worldwide, and triggering a years-long worldwide tour. It has been declared "the biggest selling hard rock album ever made" and 'the best-selling heavy-metal album in history.' The band toured the world for a full year to support the album, changing the face of rock music--and Brian Johnson's life--forever.

"A sharp, funny, and honest collection of real-life stories from Kelly Ripa, showing the many dimensions and crackling wit of the beloved daytime talk show host"--.

What happens when the all-American high school student discovers he's undocumented? Rafa's parents didn't want him to grow up feeling different because, as his mom told him: "Dreams should not have borders." Rafa had no idea of his immigration status until he tried to get his driver's license during his junior year of high school. Suddenly, his perfectly curated and slightly racist (race-ish, if you will) American life came undone. While his parents were relieved to no longer live a lie in front of their son, Rafa found himself completely unraveling in the face of his uncertain future.

From political wunderkind and former army intelligence officer Jason Kander comes a haunting, powerful memoir about politics, PTSD, impossible choices--and how sometimes walking away from the chance of a lifetime can be the greatest decision of all.

Baek Sehee is a successful young social media director at a publishing house when she begins seeing a psychiatrist about her - what to call it? - depression? She feels persistently low, anxious, endlessly self-doubting, but also highly judgemental of others. She hides her feelings well at work and with friends; adept at performing the calmness, even ease, her lifestyle demands. The effort is exhausting, overwhelming, and keeps her from forming deep relationships. This can't be normal. But if she's so hopeless, why can she always summon a desire for her favourite street food, the hot, spicy rice cake, tteokbokki? Is this just what life is like? Recording her dialogues with her psychiatrist over a 12-week period, Baek begins to disentangle the feedback loops, knee-jerk reactions and harmful behaviours that keep her locked in a cycle of self-abuse.

Having worked as a nurse, a pastor, and a community organizer in St. Louis, Missouri, Cori Bush hadn't initially intended to run for political office. But when protests in Ferguson erupted in 2014, Bush found herself on the frontlines, providing medical care and protesting violence against Black lives. Encouraged by community leaders to run for office, and compelled by an urgency to prevent her children and others from becoming social media hashtags, Bush campaigned persistently while navigating myriad personal challenges--and ultimately rose to unseat a twenty-year incumbent to become the first Black woman to represent her state in Congress. The Forerunner is the raw and moving account of a politician and activist whose life experiences, though underrepresented in the halls of Congress, reflect some of the same realities and struggles that many Americans face in their everyday lives. Courageously laying bare her experience as a minimum-wage worker, a survivor of domestic and sexual violence, and an unhoused parent, Congresswoman Bush embodies a new chapter in progressive politics that prioritizes the lives and stories of those most politically vulnerable at the core of its agenda. A testament to the lasting legacy of the Ferguson Uprising and an unflinching examination of how the American political system is so deeply intertwined with systemic injustice, The Forerunner is profoundly relatable and inspiring at its heart. At once a stirring and emotionally wrought personal account and a fierce call to action, this is political memoir the likes of which we've never seen before.